This past Friday I enjoyed a girls’ dinner with my two closest friends. I hadn’t seen either of them since I’ve started working for R6, so there was some much needed catching up to be done.
As I recounted some of the details of the work I’m doing (almost no one in my life knows what the heck content marketing is), I had a budding realization that for the first time ever I’m not nervous about my work. Yes, there’s a lot to be done, and there are moments when I find myself overwhelmed by the size and importance of the tasks on my to-do list, but the nerves…they’re just not there the way they used to be.
That statement isn’t intended to sound cocky; it’s to say I’ve found a confidence in my abilities that never existed before. And while I can’t pinpoint the exact reason for the development of this calm faith, I have a few ideas:
- Losing my job when I did — at the peak of our economic plummet and just four years out of school — put me in a place in which I was finally forced to make well-thought-out, long-term-focused decisions about the path I want my career to take. As often as we’re told to do this when we’re in school, actually figuring yourself out enough to know what you rock at and are happy doing professionally takes time, and a bit of trial and error, too. Educational curriculum — while incredibly valuable — will never compare to real-world experience. My real-world experience coupled with the extreme situation of being laid off created a perfect storm in which I was able to nail down a career path that makes me happy and figure more of myself out in the process. I’m not sure that would’ve happened if my professional life hadn’t taken the turns it did.
- My boss has been an avid supporter of my skills and knowledge for awhile — they’re the reason she hired me, and she relies on my skill set and smarts to help her get stuff done. There isn’t hand-holding or coddling — she’s there if I need her, but she’ll leave projects in my hands because she knows I’m capable of doing them, and she has her own workload to take care of. If you want to prove you believe in your team, let them do their jobs. Sounds basic, right? But so few managers actually give their supporting team members the freedom and faith to let them produce outstanding work. And you’d be surprised at how much more you as a manager can get done when you actually trust your team to pull their weight. Seriously.
- I grew up. No, really. Another friend of mine and I were reviewing the past year or so and, to a large degree, accepted with a bit of wonder that we’re finally growing up. And no matter how many people tell you that confidence comes with age when you’re younger, it’s hard to believe it until you’ve gone through the experiences that offer up evidential proof you’re able to take care of yourself, make self-preserving and smart moves, and survive it all with a smile.
When did you first feel that glimmer of foundational confidence in yourself? What turns has your life taken to help you see what you’re capable of? Was it a single defining moment or a combination of events and factors that made you truly believe?
